Photo © Vatican Media
(ANS – Vatican City) – According to an announcement from the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, on August 15 Pope Leo XIV will celebrate the Eucharist for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Parish of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo, which has been entrusted to the Salesians since the pontificate of Pope Pius XI. The Holy Father will return to Castel Gandolfo two weeks later, on August 29, to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Lake.
The Pope, who spent his summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo this year from July 5–27, will return to the town in the Lazio region to continue the traditional papal visit for the Feast of the Assumption. The visit expresses his closeness to the local community, which has long been connected to the papacy through the Papal Palace and the Papal Villas, and is a source of great joy for the Salesian community serving there.
Pope Leo XIV revived this tradition last year, during the first year of his pontificate, when he celebrated Mass before approximately 2,000 faithful. The congregation included worshippers inside the parish church as well as the large crowd gathered in the adjacent Piazza della Libertà.
On that occasion, joined by numerous Salesians, including the parish pastor, Fr. Tadeusz Rozmus, Pope Leo emphasized the significance of the feast, recalling that the history of every person—and of the Church living within the human family—is rooted in Mary of Nazareth. By becoming incarnate through her, God conquered death. This, he said, is the mystery celebrated on the Solemnity of the Assumption: “how God conquers death, never without us.”
The Holy Father is also scheduled to return to Castel Gandolfo on Saturday, August 29, 2026, to celebrate Mass and lead the procession for the Feast of Our Lady of the Lake. The celebration will take place at the Church of Maria Santissima del Lago, located on the shores of Lake Albano and within the parish territory served by the Salesians of St. Thomas of Villanova Parish. The church was dedicated on August 15, 1977, by Pope Paul VI, who oversaw its construction. The last pope to celebrate the feast there was St. John Paul II, who presided over Mass and the procession on September 2, 1979.